


the place we call home

by johnnys



Series: one room apartment [4]
Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: M/M, angry landlord, cardboard box city, double b getting evicted, double b rely on each other and it's cute, hanbin is reasonable, jinhwan just wants to sleep, jiwon is protective, yunhyeong doesn't actually make an appearance lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21876673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnnys/pseuds/johnnys
Summary: it doesn't matter whether the sky is purple, or they're getting evicted in the morning. all that matters is they have each other.(a one-shot in which all it takes is one night of uncertainty for hanbin and jiwon to realise that home isn't about the place - it's about the people in it.)
Relationships: Kim Hanbin | B.I/Kim Jiwon | Bobby, Kim Jinhwan/Song Yunhyeong
Series: one room apartment [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1568320
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	the place we call home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [honeysugarchocolate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeysugarchocolate/gifts).



> this is a gift for my dear friend who i love and admire very much! congrats on finishing your exams, please rest and relax (and write more because i adore your style).

the room is dark when the clock strikes midnight, and the sky is purple through the slats of the blinds. they can't actually close the blinds anymore because the mechanism is broken (and became unfixable after jiwon had a temper tantrum with it one time after it refused to work) but hanbin says it's better this way because he can always see the stars. 

it's just as well they're getting evicted, because there are too many broken things in this apartment that neither of them can afford to fix. and as the clock strikes midnight, they think about how in a couple of hours time they will be moving everything out of this tiny room and squeezing it all into an even smaller space.

it's like the reverse cinderella.

“well, last night in paradise,” hanbin jokes, staring up at the cracks in the ceiling. he's lying on the mattress in the middle of the floor, which is just about the only thing not to be shoved in a cardboard box yet.

jiwon's stomach rumbles audibly from where he stands at the long windows, watching the late night traffic on the roads. usually, at a time like this, he would say something like  _ we'll figure something out _ . but with his entire family back in new york, and zero savings, he's running out of ideas. 

it's a bit shit, really.

hanbin sighs. for the past two days he's had an angry landlord yapping at his heels, slapping a rather ugly eviction notice on their apartment door. money is scarce, food is expensive, and time is running out. he's living in a cardboard city inside his own four walls, but in a few hours they won't even have a cardboard box to stay in, or anywhere to sleep tomorrow night.

“come here,” hanbin sighs, beckoning him over with an outstretched hand. 

turning away from the window, jiwon crosses the room to sink into the threadbare mattress next to him. hanbin lifts his head for jiwon to slide an arm around his shoulders, and melts into jiwon's side, burying his face in jiwon's chest. they've held each other like this so many times that it's like second nature now, but even the warmest embrace can't make them forget the fact that they have a serious problem to deal with.

“maybe jinhwan can find a space for us on his floor,” jiwon suggests, his voice just a quiet murmur in hanbin's hair. 

“jinhwan's apartment isn't much bigger than this one,” hanbin points out, mulling over their options in his head. "plus, yunhyeong lives there now, remember?"

“oh yeah.”

“let's just move in with my parents.”

hanbin's solution is, of course, the most logical. his parents live in seoul, and they have a spare bedroom that they could take. he's presented this idea to jiwon a number of times over the last couple of days, but has been shot down repeatedly.

“hanbin--”

“just until we get back on our feet!” hanbin adds quickly, craning his neck to glance up at jiwon's face. "i know you don't want to but--"

“it's not  _ just _ because i don't want to,” jiwon interrupts gruffly. “i don't want to have to rely on your parents…”

“you have to rely on  _ someone _ , jiwon.”

“yeah, myself.”

hanbin bites back a frustrated response, listening to the sound of traffic outside their window and the regular intervals of jiwon's heartbeat. the ticking of the clock at the bottom of a cardboard box. the rise and fall of jiwon's chest. the countdown to eternity.

“i want to be able to take care of you,” jiwon mutters into the darkness, his voice just a ghost on the back of hanbin's neck in the middle of the night.

but it's cute, the way he says that. 

“i know it isn't ideal,” hanbin replies in a soft tone, “but it's the best way you can take care of me until we figure things out.” he curls his fingers into the fabric of jiwon's shirt, breathes in the musky smell of his aftershave. 

it's a good argument, but jiwon is the most stubborn person hanbin knows.

(apart from himself.)

which is part of the reason that they still end up on jinhwan's floor that very same night, unable to sleep into the early hours of the morning. though, admittedly, it isn't entirely because of jiwon. it's also mostly because of that angry landlord who has decided it is his duty to make their lives as inconvenient as possible. 

there's a knock at the door.

jiwon groans.

“don't answer it,” hanbin whispers sharply.

the knocking quickly becomes aggressive, accompanied by a chorus of demands and curses from the apartment block's least favourite person. hanbin and jiwon lie still, hardly daring to move a muscle, as they both hope and pray that the landlord will soon give up and leave them alone. spoiler alert: he doesn't. the banging at the door continues, quickly joined by shouts from neighbouring apartments whose residents are trying to sleep.

“fuck this,” jiwon huffs.

“wait--”

jiwon rolls out of bed and marches towards the door, much to hanbin's strangled objections. the landlord is petty and smug, and apparently the eviction notice on the door means that they have to leave  _ now _ , because the clock has already struck midnight and it counts as the following day. hanbin calls bullshit, jiwon dodges punches, but they reluctantly agree to leave before the landlord becomes any more dangerous than he already is.

“you can move the rest of your stuff out tomorrow,” the landlord sneers, and turns to stalk back down the hallway.

jiwon gives him the middle finger.

“hey,” hanbin murmurs, joining him in the dim light of the doorway. he loops an arm around jiwon's waist and leans against him. “what do we do now?”

jiwon pulls hanbin in with a protective arm around his shoulders. it's strange yet nice that hanbin is letting him decide, and take the lead. he usually makes most of the decisions, since he is often right, and jiwon is happy to do whatever hanbin wants. but this time, it feels nice for hanbin to rely on him just a little.

(except that jiwon hasn't got a clue what happens now.)

“well…”

“we could go to my parents'?” hanbin suggests quietly, eyeing jiwon carefully to try and guess what he's thinking.

“it's the middle of the night, 'bin,” jiwon reasons, weighing up their options in his head. “i guess we'd better crash at jinhwan's for tonight.”

so that’s what they end up doing - turning up at jinhwan’s apartment building in the dead of night. when hanbin hesitates to press the doorbell, jiwon smashes a finger into it and a loud buzzing noise echoes throughout the apartment. it’s jinhwan’s rude awakening, so to speak. There’s a crackle in the receiver a minute or two later, when jinhwan drags himself out of bed.

“who the fuck is it?” his voice grumbles through the speaker. “it’s two in the morning. don’t be a dick and go away.”

jiwon clears his throat. “uh… hwannie? it’s us.”

there’s a short pause, before, “oh great.”

the two of them are buzzed into the building and they take the elevator up to the apartment. It’s obvious hanbin’s exhausted when he leans against jiwon’s larger frame and rests his head on his shoulder. when they get to jinhwan’s apartment, jinhwan is dressed in silk pyjamas and a matching eye mask, and looks as if he could kill both of them if they weren’t so pitiful.

“come in, then,” jinhwan sighs, and beckons them both inside. 

jinhwan’s apartment is larger than theirs - it has an open-plan lounge and kitchen area, albeit still very small, one bedroom and a bathroom. jiwon spies a nice sofa for hanbin to crash on, and a decent piece of floor space for him to lie. 

“you have to whisper,” jinhwan tells them as he creeps back into the rest of the apartment. “yunhyeong’s a light sleeper.”

jiwon is about to crack a joke or make a rude gesture, but both hanbin and jinhwan throw him a warning look at the same time. hanbin slides his hand into jiwon’s, lacing their fingers together, and jiwon doesn’t say another word. jinhwan shows them the sofa, points vaguely at the bathroom, and then goes back to bed as quickly as possible.

“we’ll talk about this in the morning,” he yawns, before stalking back into the bedroom and closing the door as quietly as possible.

“you take the sofa,” jiwon says immediately.

“no, no, you take it,” hanbin disagrees, but his eyelids are drooping. it won’t be long before all of his defence mechanisms have been crumbled by the power of exhaustion.

jiwon sighs and scoops hanbin up, a hand under each thigh, pulling hanbin up around his hips. he feels hanbin surrender as his face nuzzles his neck, and he puts him gently down on the couch cushions. he doesn’t expect hanbin to drag him down with him.

“let me go, bin,” jiwon chuckles, trying to unlatch hanbin’s arms from around his neck.

“stay with me,” hanbin murmurs. he pulls jiwon on top of him and shifts so they can cuddle more comfortably on the sofa. 

time goes by and jiwon is pretty sure hanbin has fallen asleep when he whispers, “let’s go to your parents’ place tomorrow.”

hanbin  _ isn’t _ asleep. “i knew you’d come round in the end,” he sighs in response, a tiny smile gracing his lips.

jiwon just hugs him tighter, holds him in his arms never to let go. “it’s not like it’ll be forever,” he says, “like you said, just until we get back on our feet. and one day... i promise i’ll be able to take care of you like i want to, and we’ll have a home of our own.”

and as late night fades into early morning, hanbin’s lips brush jiwon’s cheek and he plants a kiss there, tangles his hands in jiwon’s hair, smiles in the dim light of jinhwan’s living room. “whatever happens,” he says, “wherever we go, i’ll always be home if i’m with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> ps. there'll be a bigger gift for your birthday (hopefully) so watch out!


End file.
